A petrified owner was told by "scum" blackmailers to "give us 500 quid or I'll shoot your dog".
Dog owner Nathan Swalwell got a call from a private number after his nine-year-old Shih Tzu went missing days before Christmas. The Wigan-man answered the call and was told: "I've got Lexi. Give us 500 quid or I'll shoot it."
In a panic Nathan asked the blackmailer to send a picture but was told he would have to send £50 for it. Nathan added: "I got the bank details and paid. He wasn't telling the truth and I didn't see the money again.
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"But when you're desperate, you'll do anything." Lexi was later found completely unscathed. Nathan's case is just one of hundreds that have been reported nationwide of blackmailers demanding money in exchange for a missing pet's safe return.
The Mirror reported a single gang in Cumbria is thought to have made more than £100,000 from scam calls. Another person who fell victim to the vile blackmail was Holly Thackeray, a mum of two from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire.
The 31-year-old said she was conned after her American bulldog Chapo escaped from her garden. She said: "I searched for him for days and put ads on social media. I then got a call from a man who said he had Chapo. He told me to send £500 and he would leave him tied to a lamppost for me.
"He said if I didn't pay, he'd chop him up. I genuinely believed he had my dog so I sent the money." When the man called again and asked for more cash, she refused to pay. Chapo was later found dead after being hit by a car.
Karen Harding, of charity Dog Lost, said: "These people are scum. We know of at least 100 cases where owners have paid fraudsters pretending to have their dog. The calls are threatening and violent. We’ve had threats to kill and rape. Some victims are highly vulnerable, like elderly people who are willing to part with their savings if it means getting their dogs back."
In advice to owners, she added: "If they say they have your dog, ask for a picture containing something with the day’s date on. That way you’ll be able to tell if they’re lying."
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